Harper Lee

Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself...It's a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent.

I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.

As I made my way home, I thought Jem and I would get grown but there wasn't much else for us to learn, except possibly algebra.

I didn't expect the book to sell in the first place. I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of reviewers but at the same time I sort of hoped that maybe someone would like it enough to give me encouragement. Public encouragement. I hoped for a little, as I said, but I got rather a whole lot, and in some ways this was just about as frightening as the quick, merciful death I'd expected.

I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the jury system - that is no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality.

I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.

It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.

Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.

...but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself.

You can't really get to know a person until you get in their shoes and walk around in them.

As you grow up, always tell the truth, do no harm to others, and don't think you are the most important being on earth. Rich or poor, you then can look anyone in the eye and say, 'I'm probably no better than you, but I'm certainly your equal.

Things are always better in the morning.

Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

For the life of me, I did not understand how he[Atticus] could sit there in cold blood and read a newspaper when his only son stood an excellent chance of being murdered with a Confederate Army relic.

When stalking one’s prey, it is best to take one’s time. Say nothing, and as sure as eggs he will become curious and emerge.

Whatever she says to you, it’s your job not to let her make you mad.

I know now what he was trying to do, but Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work.

She knew full well the enormity of her offense, but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in breaking it.

summer was our best season: it was sleeping on the back screeneed porch in cots, or trying to sleep in the treehouse; summer was everything good to eat;it was a thousand colors in a parched landscape.

Miss Caroline seemed unaware that the ragged, denim-shirted and floursack-skirted first grade, most of whom had chopped cotton and fed hogs from the time they were able to walk, were immune to imaginative literature.